Cécile Duffaut has just spent a weekend at her parents’ place in Troyes. Neither her husband nor her daughter would come with her. The old folks are too boring. Despite two days of silence and incomprehension, she stayed over on Sunday night anyway! On Monday morning, furious with herself, she is waiting impatiently for the 6:41 train to Paris.
A few feet away, Philippe Leduc is pacing. He’s waiting for the 6:41 too. An atypical day is starting for him, he’ll let the office know later. He is thinking that he could disappear. No one’s expecting him. He’s divorced. His children are indifferent. He’s lost touch with his friends. Well, not all of them, because this journey is to go see Matthieu, his childhood friend.

For once, the train is on time. Everyone shoves there way on board, and the train pulls away. Philippe Leduc wanders through the cars and finally finds an empty seat. Right next to Cécile Duffaut. They recognize each other right away, but they act like nothing’s up…

You’ll find everything that makes Jean-Philippe Blondel’s novels so enjoyable in 6:41. Empathy for his characters – for their oversights, their compromises, their paths and their hesitations. A sensitive evocation of fates that could be our own. Welcome on board!

They had been lovers once, but they broke up long ago. They had never forgotten each other, even though they’d never seen each other again. Chance and the 6:41 train for Paris brought them together that morning…